Steve's mum appeared in the hallway form the kitchen when she heard the front door opening. "How's Kate?" she asked Steve who was pulling a suitcase behind him.
"See for yourself," he replied as he held the door open. Kate hobbled in to view on her crutches.
"Oh my word!" Mrs Arnott exclaimed as she caught sight of the bandage on Kate's foot and the multiple cuts and bruises over her face from her fall down the stairs.
"It's not that bad, Mrs Arnott," Kate promised her friend's mum.
"How many times, Kate?" Mrs Arnott asked the woman in front of her. "It's Sue. Mrs Arnott is so formal,".
"Sue," Kate amended.
"Doctor wanted someone with her for the next twenty four hours because of concussion so we decided Kate would be staying here," Steve informed his mother.
"I didn't decide anything," Kate muttered. She was still upset with Steve for his mollycoddling.
Sue Arnott suppressed a smile. She was used to her son and Kate having the occasional squabble. Today looked like just such a time.
"But seeing how difficult Kate is finding managing things on crutches-,".
"I'm not!" Kate protested. She didn't like to be thought of as an invalid.
"Well packing an overnight bag proved quite challenging, didn't it?" Steve retorted. Sometimes Kate was far too stubborn for her own good. They had just spent well over an hour at Kate's flat with Steve watching Kate struggling to do anything by herself despite her insistence that she was fine. In the end he got so exasperated with his friend that he took over. "We changed the bag to a small suitcase and Kate will stay until she's off her crutches," he informed his mother and reiterated the scenario to Kate who rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"How about a cup of tea?" Sue asked the pair, hoping to change the topic.
"That would be great, Mum," Steve said. "I'm just gonna go change the bed. Kate sit down," he instructed as he walked off on seeing Kate move to help him. He would get the job done much quicker by himself.
"Kate?" Sue asked.
"That would be nice Mrs….Sue," Kate replied as she moved slowly to the sofa and sat down. She would never tell Steve but she was thankful for his intervention. It really was quite awkward using crutches and she was exhausted from only covering a short distance.
Steve reappeared with some dirty sheets in his hand which he put in the washing machine and started a cycle before joining his mother and Kate in having a cup of tea.
"How's Elle been?" he asked as he took a sip of the hot liquid.
"In bed mostly," Sue said. "She appeared once and we had a bit of a cuddle on the sofa but she was soon falling asleep again. She's not her usual self at all at the moment is she?". Her granddaughter was usually jumping about with lots of energy.
"No," Steve agreed. "Looks like I've got my hands full looking after two invalids for the next few days," he teased Kate.
"I'm fine," Kate retorted, before contradicting herself. She could only manage half a cup of tea before she felt a bit nauseous from the knock to her head and decided she would have a bit of a nap.
Steve went with her to the bedroom and helped her find the shorts and vest top she had packed to sleep in. "You need help getting changed?" he half teased.
"Piss off!" Kate replied before Steve got the message and left her alone.
Mrs Arnott was putting her coat on when he reappeared back in the living room. "I better go and get your father's dinner ready," she told her son. Her husband had been enjoying a round of golf with his friends that afternoon.
"OK," said Steve as he hugged his mum. "Thanks for your help today,".
"It's no trouble," Mrs Arnott said. "Give me a call if I can do anything else to help with either of your patients," she instructed.
"Thanks Mum,".
"Oh and I've made some chicken soup for you all," she said as she went to the front door. "I find it cures anything. All you need to do is heat it up," she instructed before she left.
Now alone, Steve decided to do a quick ward round of his patients to make sure they were ok. First off was Kate. Sticking his head in to his own bedroom he saw that she had managed to get changed by herself and was now attempting to get in to bed.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked when he saw her attempt to put weight on her damaged ankle as she had discarded her crutches. "No weight bearing remember?" he said as he came to her aid.
Steve put his arm around Kate's waist whilst she looped her arm around his shoulders so she could use him as her temporary crutch. Slowly Kate hopped toward the bed. Steve tried to ignore the fact that he could feel her breasts bouncing up and down against his chest now that she had removed her bra.
On reaching the bed, Steve quickly turned down the duvet before Kate sat down. He then helped her swing her injured leg up on to the mattress during which, he tried valiantly to ignore the fact that Kate's white vest top was a little see through and he could see the dark outlines of her nipples through the cotton. The last thobg she needed right now was him perving on her.
Once Kate was horizontal on the bed, Steve pulled the duvet over her but not before he noticed her grimace. "You ok?".
"Just a bit sore with the duvet covering my ankle," Kate replied. Her ankle was now plantar flexed with the duvet and causing some pain.
"Maybe sleep with your leg out of the duvet?" Steve suggested. "I'll get a pillow to rest it on," he continued before disappearing to find one pillow. "Here you go," he said when he returned and helped stuff the pillow under Kate's injured ankle. "Better?".
"Yeah," replied Kate gratefully.
Steve looked t his watch. "You can probably have some more pain killers as well," he said as it had been a little while since she had had her previous dose.
"Yeah, I think I might," Kate agreed. Her ankle was throbbing and might prevent her getting any sleep.
Steve disappeared and returned with a box of medication and some water. Kate took two tablets with a sip of water and settled down for a nap.
"Call if you need anything," he said as he turned to leave the room to allow Kate to get some rest.
"I will," Kate promised. "Steve?" she called out as he started leaving the room. He turned to face her. "Thanks for making me stay here," she said, acknowledging that Steve had been right in getting her to stay with him.
"You're welcome, mate," he said before finally leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
He'd been attracted to Kate the first time he had set eyes on her. He was sort of regretting his decision to leave London until she had walked past him in that corridor. She was the most interesting part about his new home……..until he found out who she really was.
On discovering she was his partner and was married with a son and therefore totally unavailable he had put Kate firmly in his 'friend zone'. And there she had stayed until now. Recently he was beginning to notice that she was an attractive woman again and he didn't know what to do about it.
"Daddy?" Ellie's voice beside him roused him from his thoughts.
"Hey," he said, "what are you doing up?" he asked his daughter. She was dressed in her favourite unicorn pyjamas and from what Steve could see, had developed more red spots on the bits of her skin he could see in the few hours since he'd seen her last.
"Feel hot," Ellie whimpered forlornly. She hated feeling unwell.
Steve picked her up and kissed her forehead which felt warm against his lips. "Would you like a drink?" he asked his daughter and she shook her head. "You need to drink something Elle, you've hardly had anything all day,".
"Maybe some chocolate milk," Ellie decided, batting her eyelids at her father.
"Ok," replied Steve. He didn't like her drinking too much of the stuff but seeing as she was ill he would let her. "And I'll get you some more calpol," he said.
"Can I have a story?" Ellie asked.
"Of course," Steve agreed as he tucked her back in to bed. Her favourite toys that were still Piglet and Seahorse were beside her, under the covers.
Steve went to the kitchen to get the requested drink and then to the bathroom for the medicine. With another dose given, Steve then got on to the bed on top of the covers and cuddled with Ellie as he read her a story.
"Is Kate ok?" Ellie asked after Steve had finished and was retucking Ellie back in to bed. "Grandma said she had to go to hospital,".
"She's ok," Steve replied. "She's actually taking a nap in my bed at the moment as she's not feeling too well either,".
"Should I go and see her?" Ellie asked.
"Maybe not right now," Steve answered, not wanting Kate to be disturbed by Ellie. "I want you to promise me that you won't bother her," he said.
"I promise, Daddy," Ellie said, looking earnestly at her father.
"Good girl," Steve replied, hoping she was telling the truth, as he gently kissed Ellie on the top of her head and left her alone for a bit more of a sleep.
Steve sighed as he dropped on to his sofa. It had been a hectic few days and he was exhausted. He was still recovering from Ellie's party and then today had been extremely stressful with both Elle and Kate being unwell. He needed a bit of a nap himself. Just ten minutes he said to himself as he settled down for some sleep on the sofa. It wasn't long before his eyelids began to droop.